SMWC Celebrates 174th Commencement

Tracy Richardson, Ph.D., MT-BC, professor and Director of Masters in Music Therapy at SMWC

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) celebrates its 174th commencement on Dec. 14, 2013. The traditional baccalaureate mass begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Church of the Immaculate Conception. The commencement ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Cecilian Auditorium of the Conservatory of Music. An estimated 60 students are expected to graduate in the ceremony.

Tracy Richardson, Ph.D., MT-BC, professor and director of masters in music therapy at SMWC, will deliver the commencement address. Richardson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in music therapy from SMWC, Master of Science in agency counseling and Ph.D. in counselor education from Indiana State University. She is also the chairperson of the music and theatre department at SMWC and has taught at The Woods for 18 years.

Richardson has been a board certified music therapist for 25 years and has worked with people with a variety of health issues, including mental health challenges, developmental disabilities and cancer. She specializes in the use of clinical songwriting as a music therapy intervention with her clients. She is the immediate past president of the Great Lakes Region of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), serves as an AMTA Assembly Delegate, and won the conference songwriting award, awarded by the American Music Therapy Association, in 2009.

Richardson is a singer, songwriter and keyboard player. Between 1983 and 1988, she performed in a band that opened locally for such acts as Randy Travis, George Strait, Keith Whitley, and John Conlee. In 1997, she released a self-titled, self-produced CD containing original songs, one of which received local airplay. She continues to perform in local venues as a solo performer.

Commencement Details

Baccalaureate Celebration10:30 a.m.Church of the Immaculate Conception - Doors open at 10:00 a.m